1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to fishing reels and more particularly to a structure for fixedly mounting a spool bearing to the frame of a fishing reel.
2. Background Art
In one type of closed-face spinning reel, a reel frame or deck plate has a forwardly projecting integral hub having a bore therein. A bushing having a neck portion and an enlarged head portion has its neck portion inserted into the bore in hub with the head projecting forwardly therefrom. The bushing has an axial bore for receiving a centershaft. A spool bearing is attached to the neck portion of the bushing between the enlarged head portion and the hub. A cylindrical support is integrally formed in the reel frame proximate the base of the hub. A line carrying spool is mounted between the spool bearing and the cylindrical support. The line carrying spool is axially fixed and normally non-rotatable; however, provision is made for limited rotary slippage or "drag" of the spool relative to the reel frame for controlled withdrawal of line from the spool.
The rotary slippage or drag is controlled by a drag brake mechanism including a plurality of clutch elements in the form of C-shaped resilient rings mounted on the hub and disposed in a bore in the line spool. The C-shaped rings are held in place on the hub by the reel frame and the spool bearing. Each C-ring is split and a cam actuator is disposed in the split between opposite faces bounding the split. The cam actuator is arranged, upon rotation, to increase and decrease the effective outer diameter of the C-rings carried on the hub, thereby increasing and decreasing the frictional drag force applied to the spool by the C-rings.
When the drag brake mechanism is adjusted to permit rotation of the normally non-rotatable spool, the spool imparts torsion to the spool bearing. This torsion can be sufficient to cause the spool bearing to rotate relative to the hub. Such rotation is highly undesirable because it causes the drag brake mechanism which is mounted to the spool bearing to become misaligned, disrupting the drag control at high-end and low-end extreme drag settings. Moreover, the torsion may also cause bushing to rotate relative to the hub. Such rotation can lead to the spool bearing separating from the hub, thereby causing the line spool to become disengaged either from the spool bearing or the support surface. Either of these conditions will result in poor performance and eventual failure of the reel.
To overcome the undesirable rotation of the spool bearing and bushing, prior art structures have fixed the spool bearing to the bushing to prevent rotation of the spool bearing relative to the bushing when drag release occurs. The prior art methods of attaching the spool bearing to the bushing include press fitting the spool bearing to the bushing and drilling and pinning the spool bearing to the bushing. Press fitting has been found to not always hold the spool bearing securely. Drilling and pinning the spool bearing has proven excessively costly. Moreover, neither of these solutions assure the bushing will not be rotated relative to the reel body.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems attaching a spool bearing to the reel body discussed above.